Sins of the Father
by Mr. Cereal
Summary: formerly 'Inheritences' Sometimes, the past comes looking for you, no matter how far you choose to run, as Ethan and his family soon find out. Set in Hoenn, OC-centric.
1. Moving In

"I've been to many ports, but Slateport's the best!" the sailor declared.

"Yeah?" Ethan Bailey said unenthusiastically, looking around the pier. From what he read, it was a bustling seaport, with ships docking from Kanto, Johto and the Sevii Islands daily, not to mention the other ports in Hoenn. It certainly was a vibrant place. Still, considering the circumstances, Ethan couldn't bring himself to be excited about Slateport.

"C'mon, kid, you might as well enjoy your vacation. You _are_ on vacation, aren't you?"

"Actually we-" Ethan began.

"Yes, we are. Just taking a tour of southern Hoenn," Ethan's father cut in quickly, lugging a heavy briefcase, "you know, family bonding time."

Ethan scowled. "Why do we have to lie, Dad? I thought you said-"

"Keep your voice down!" his father hissed in a low voice, "Look, I know what I said. We're just keeping a low profile."

"What exactly are we hiding from anyway? It's always 'keep a low profile', 'don't speak to the other passengers', 'don't run about', don't do this, don't do that," Ethan's sister Kate chimed in. Kate was fourteen, two years younger than Ethan, and very restless. She had been complaining about being made to stay in her cabin for most of the journey from Vermillion City in the _S.S. Dratini_. She loved exploring new places.

"Now, dear, I think we talked about this before getting on the ship…" Ethan's mother said, with just a hint of warning in her tone. Kate snorted, kicking moodily at a pebble. The family walked the short distance from the pier to the beach in a sullen silence. At the beach, the rest of their things were already being unloaded off a truck, and on a small boat. The boat looked battered, but seaworthy.

"Hello, Conrad," a man supervising the move waved out at Ethan's father. He was a gaunt, middle-aged man, whose few remaining hairs on his scalp were already grey, and he had a horribly mismatched sailor's hat on his almost-bald pate. "How was your trip? Good?" he asked, extending his hand as if to shake Ethan's father's hand, but instead pulled him into a bear hug, laughing. "Boy, you sure have gotten old since I last saw you! And who're your kids?" he said, glancing at Ethan and Kate.

"Uh, yeah, meet Ethan and Kate, my two kids. Children, meet my old friend, Skipler." Ethan's father introduced. The man called Skipler shook both their hands vigorously. He did not shake Ethan's mother's hand, but merely nodded. Ethan glanced at his mother, and saw that there was no love lost between the two: her lips were pursed in faint disapproval.

"Whatever happened to being inconspicuous?" Kate muttered to Ethan out of the corner of her mouth. Ethan shrugged, and followed his father into the boat.

After everyone got on, the boat spluttered into life, and the boat lurched forward. The hull groaned in protest of the weight, but the boat was soon chugging sedately westwards. "Are you sure this boat is seaworthy?" Ethan's father asked Skipler, only half-jokingly.

Skipler chuckled. "'course it is! This is one of Mr. Briney's boats."

"Huh. And I thought he didn't like you," Ethan's father said.

"Ah well, that was a looong time ago- well, I think he still hates my guts, but you can't begrudge what you don't know is missing, can you?" Skipler said with a wink.

"Holy miltank, Skip, you sto-"

"No, no, Conrad my friend, it's called _borrowing_. Albeit without permission," Skipler added almost as an afterthought. He patted Ethan's father on the back. "You've been away from the business for a long time, pal. And anyways, he won't miss it. I tell you, old Briney's gone a little senile with age. He spends most of his time fussing and blubbering over a wingull nowadays," Conrad made an old face and imitated a feeble voice, "oh, my darling Peeko!"

Ethan, despite his current mood, smiled at that. "How long have you two known each other?"

Skipler considered the question for a moment. "Oh, way back. Thirty years, or something like that? We were roommates in our orphanage in Lilycove when we were wee tots- it was awful, remember Conrad? When we turned ten, we ran away together. We stole some money from the guy running the orphanage and got ourselves a pokemon. We travelled a lot, and we eventually got our way to Kanto. Then we joined the-"

Skipler faltered at a quick warning glance from Ethan's father. It was subtle, but Ethan caught it. Skipler cleared his throat nervously. "Right. Anyway, we were pretty tight chums. Best friends, you might say. Then your dad got hooked up with your mum, and settled down in Pallet, while I got myself a plot of land near Petalburg."

* * *

They reached Dewford Town after a couple of hours on the boat. "Our house is on the other side of town, nearer the mountains, so we'll have to find a way to carry our stuff there," Ethan's father said. 

"You mean you had no plans for this?" Ethan demanded.

"We were in a great hurry," snapped his father. And so they were. Ethan hadn't known that they were moving until three days before. _You'd have thought that we'd have gotten used to it,_ Ethan thought snidely. For almost as long as he could remember, his family had been moving constantly, almost every year. Ethan had never stayed in one place for longer than fifteen months. For many children, the end-of-year holidays were a long-awaited occasion. As a child, Ethan dreaded the holidays, because it meant leaving his friends yet again. This year's move only represented a progression of sorts: instead of moving from town to town, city to city, this time they left Kanto altogether.

"We'll figure something out," Ethan's mother interjected. " Dewford Town seems like a nice place, and it's sufficiently isolated. We might not even have to move again. Ever." Kate hovered on the edge of saying something scathing, but seemed to decide against it, and shut up. There was a slight bump, and the boat stopped moving, signalling that they had arrived.

There was a burly man, probably in his mid-twenties, just beyond the pier, sitting on a cart pulled by a camerupt. He was clearly waiting for them. "You must be the Baileys. Got a call from the mayor that we had a new family moving in, so I came in to see if I could help," he said, extending his hand. "I'm Brawly, by the way. That's not my real name, but that's what everyone calls me."

Ethan's father tool Brawly's hand and shook it. "I'm Conrad Bailey, this is my wife Diane, my children Ethan and Kate." Brawly shook Ethan's hand with a firm handshake, doing the same to Kate and Ethan's mother.

"Well, let's get to work!" Brawly took a few pokeballs from his pocket, and threw them on the ground. Several bulkily-muscled machokes appeared, and begun carrying the big crates containing the Bailey family stuff out of the boat. The machokes worked quickly, and in relative silence, except for the occasional grunt. In no time the boat was empty.

"I'll be going then, Conrad. Ta," Skipler said, walking back onto the pier. As if he just thought of something, he turned back. "You know, I'm really glad you moved here. We can keep in contact more often, eh? Petalburg's only a couple o' hours from here using the sea route." Ethan's father smiled, and patted Skipler on the shoulder. "See you around, old friend." Skipler nodded, and tipped his mismatched hat in the direction of Ethan's mother.

* * *

Between Brawly's machokes and the camerupt, the crates were transported with ease to their new home. It was a picturesque two-storey house, with an old chimney and small garden. It wasn't very big, but Ethan had to admit that it looked rather homely. "I'll just leave you guys to your unpacking. I'll be back by nine o' clock for the machokes, if that is alright?" Brawly asked. At the affirmative of Ethan's parents, he nodded and hopped on his camerupt-pulled cart. "If you need anything, I'll be at my gym." 

Kate turned to Brawly excitedly. "You have a gym?"

Brawly grinned in pride. "Yes, m'am. We specialize in fighting-types. Are you a trainer? You can come and check it out if you want."

Kate nodded eagerly. Ethan's mother wagged her finger at Kate. "Don't even think about it, young lady. You won't even stand a chance."

Brawly looked down at his slippers. "Well, uh, the gym's near the pier if you need anything. Good day, Mr. Bailey, Mrs. Bailey."

As Brawly and his camerupt trotted away, Ethan was unpacking a crate containing his and Kate's items. He rummaged through them until he found the thing he was looking for: two tiny Pokeballs tucked snugly between folds of clothes. One was marked with a flower pattern on the red hemisphere of the Pokeball, while the other one was unmarked. The unmarked one expanded in his hand to the size of a baseball, and a zubat emerged from it. "Hey, Zubat," Ethan said.

Zubat screeched happily upon seeing him. He flew a lap around Ethan's head, and landed behind his shoulder, hooking onto his shirt carefully so that his tail-legs did not dig into Ethan's flesh. Ethan tickled under Zubat's ribbed wing absent-mindedly, eliciting clicks of contentment from him.

Ethan got him from his father as a present on his thirteenth birthday. Despite initial mistrust on the part of Zubat, he had slowly grown to accept and obey Ethan. As a result of constant moving around and changing schools, Ethan had few real friends over the years, but Zubat had become his best friend, following Ethan around almost everywhere.

Just then Kate came into the house, huffing. Ethan knew that she'd just had another argument with their mother again. "Hey, Kate, I thought you might want this," he said, tossing her the flower-patterned pokeball. She caught it with ease. "Thanks." A meowth materialized out of the pokeball. The meowth Kate called Token purred and rubbed his body against Kate's leg.

"What is it about this time?" Ethan asked. Leaning against the half-empty crate, Kate picked up Token, stroking his fur. "Mom's being a control freak. She doesn't even want to let me explore Dewford Cave ! So I'm not supposed to wander around town too much, I can't visit Brawly's gym, and I can't step foot in Dewford Cave ," she complained, ticking off the list of places with her fingers. "I might as well just stay at home."

"That's the idea, dear," their mother said, hustling past into the adjacent room to direct a pair of machokes setting down a table. Kate made a face, and ran out into the garden. Token jumped out of her arms, but after a while, pranced after her.


	2. The Neighbour

The Dewford Town Hall was an imposing building, at least by the standards of Dewford Town . There was only one other building that exceeded its size in the town. It sat right at the centre of the town, where its open doors invite every Dewford inhabitant to come and share the newest gossip and information about one another.

But Ethan didn't know all that. Right now he just wanted a drink. He stepped into the Town Hall and headed towards a drinks stall at the far end of the hall. "I'll have…… two lemonades, please," he said to the stall keeper, paying him. He took the two cans of lemonade from the man, laying one on a counter, and opening the other one. Zubat flapped silently from his shoulder and landed on the can on the counter, and promptly began to sink his fangs into the can. Ethan too gulped down the sour-sweet drink with relief. It was a hot day. He had finished unpacking into his room, and had sneaked out to explore the town a bit.

A boy was nudging Ethan. "Hey, man, would you like to see my 'crazy recall' collection? I have a 'crazy recall' cap, 'crazy recall' booklets, a 'crazy recall' shirt, 'crazy recall' coins……" the boy listed, indicating the variety of themed paraphernalia he had on him.

Ethan was perplexed. "I'm sorry, crazy what?"

"Crazy recall," the boy repeated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You come from across the sea, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then you _must_ know about 'crazy recall'. Tell me, is 'crazy recall' more popular there than it is here?" the boy asked earnestly.

"Uh, no, not really, no," Ethan said apologetically.

"But that can't be right, unless… unless…" he jumped suddenly, pointing an accusing finger at him, "it's a ploy to get all my cool 'crazy recall' stuff! I'm not sharing anything with you!" He ran off in a flash, leaving Ethan gawping after him.

Ethan heard a ringing laugh beside him. "Don't worry, not all of us are like that. Hiram is just a little obsessed." It was a girl, about his age. She had short cropped hair, framing a warm-looking face. "You must be the new family moving in. I saw you with Brawly and his machokes."

"Yeah, I am. Um……" Ethan hovered awkwardly. Zubat lifted his head from his lemonade can to look, and cooed curiously.

The girl seemed to remember. "Oh, right, I'm Keira. I live just next door to your house."

Ethan shook her hand cautiously. "Ethan," he grunted. Noticing that she had two large, full paper bags in her hands, he said, "Do you need help with that?"

"I'm fine, I mean, they're not particularly heavy or anything. Besides, you just came to the Hall, aren't you planning on staying around longer?" Keira said.

"What? Nah, I was going home anyway. My mom's probably looking for me," Ethan said hurriedly. Actually, he had planned on checking out the rest of the town for a bit. _Why the hell did I say that?_ Zubat was giving him a reproachful look that asked the same question.

Keira smiled. "Thanks, I guess. I wouldn't mind the company at all." Ethan took one of the bags from her, and they walked out of the Town Hall staggering a little, despite having divided the weight. "What are in those bags, anyway?" Ethan asked.

"Just some wood and carpenter tools, for a new shed. Our old one is falling apart," Keira said, "too heavy for you?"

Ethan shook his head casually. "My dad can't build a shed to save his life. Your dad must be a pretty good carpenter."

Keira hesitated for a while. "My dad isn't building the shed, I am," Keira said, looking away. "It's just my mom and me."

"I'm sor-" Ethan said.

"Don't be."

They were moving towards the outskirts of Dewford Town . The path, though lightly forested, was alive with many pokemon. There were beautiflies and dustoxes flitting in the air, and wurmples crawled in the underbrush, sharing the decomposing leaves with shroomishes. Once Ethan thought he even spotted an ill-concealed oddish.

More to break the awkward silence between them than anything, Ethan asked, "So what does your mom do?"

"She runs the town clinic. I help her sometimes, when I'm out of school. I really want to become a trainer, and I know I've got what it takes, but my mother still needs my help, so I can't leave her yet. She says I'll be able to leave next year, though."

"What's your pokemon?"

"I have two. A vulpix called, well, Vulpix, and a ralts called River."

"You don't have a nickname for him? The vulpix, I mean."

"Her. My father gave her to me."

"My zubat doesn't have a nickname either."

"How come?"

Ethan shrugged. "I don't know. When I got him from my dad he resisted every name I tried to give him, so I just-" He stopped talking when he heard a faint groan. It was a distinctly human sound. "Did you hear that?"

Keira nodded. They put down the bags, and went to see the source of the groan. True enough, there was a young boy, maybe ten years old, leaning against a copse, clutching his leg. A part of his calf was bruised and swollen. "Help! I was just walking through some tall grass, and I think a wurmple bit me," the boy said.

"Why didn't you wear long pants? Isn't walking in long grass in shorts a little stupid?" Ethan said.

"I like shorts! They're delightfully comfy and easy to wear," the boy muttered.

Keira examined the bruise. "It's nothing serious. A spray of antidote should cure it." She took out a bottle of purplish liquid from her pocket, and sprayed some on the boy's wound. True enough, the ugly bruise subsided, leaving only a pair of small puncture marks on the skin. The boy stood up, walking a few steps, flexing his leg.

Zubat clicked in relief. Hearing the sound, the boy noticed Zubat. "Hey, you have pokemon! Let's battle!" he said, reaching for his Pokeball. Ethan glanced at Keira, who shrugged.

The boy seemed to falter a bit. "Er, go easy on me, alright? I just started months ago," he said uncertainly. "Rocky, I choose you!" A tiny aron appeared on the forest floor.

"Yeah. Zubat, I choose you!" Ethan said, and Zubat flew from his shoulder, flapping around his head. "Zubat, Bite!"

"Rocky, Harden!" The aron's steel plates visibly hardened, and Zubat's attack merely glanced off it. "Use Tackle now, Rocky!" Rocky did a full-body tackle that hit Zubat before he had a chance to rise up higher. Zubat appeared dazed by the tackle. Rocky geared up for another tackle, and charged Zubat. At the last moment, Zubat flew up, and attached himself onto Rocky's face, astonishing it. Rocky flailed about like a headless torchic. "Rocky, Metal Claw!" the boy shouted. Rocky's sharp hard claws raked into Zubat's skin, drawing blood.

"Zubat!" Ethan rushed over, examining Zubat, who lay on the ground of the forest, beaten. "It's alright. A healing potion will revive him in no time," Keira said.

"Boy, you suck! Fork up the money!" Grumbling, Ethan handed over the change from buying the lemonade earlier. "Thanks, Keira," the boy said before going off, smirking to himself.

Ethan kept Zubat back into his Pokeball, where he can recuperate better. "You need more practice with your zubat, huh?" Keira said, laughing. It was a good-natured laugh, not a mocking laugh, but Ethan felt his face heating up. "Let's go."

They reached Keira's front door without further incident. "Thanks for the help, Ethan. It would have taken me a far longer time on my own."

"No problem at all. Bye."

"See you."

Kate's face appeared around the fence. "She's cute."

"She's our new neighbour."

"Do you like her?" Kate's face split into a mischievous grin.

"I've only just met her!" Ethan protested.

"That's not what I asked…" Kate laughed, ducking to dodge the empty lemonade can Ethan threw at her.

* * *

**A/N: Well, not a lot of Pokemon action in the first two chapters, I'll admit, but bear with me. So, did you like it? Did it suck? Any and all reviews, whether constructive criticism or flames are very welcome, though I'd vastly prefer the former to the latter. Lastly, I'd like to thank Farla for beta-reading my fic.**


	3. Shattered Idyll

Despite initial hiccups, the Bailey family adjusted to Dewford Town well enough, considering the circumstances. Ethan's father ran a stall at the Dewford Market, next to the Dewford Town Hall . Ethan and Kate went to the town school when summer break ended. Ethan's mother became a full-time housekeeper.

Ethan and Keira had become best friends since Ethan moved in. They found that they had many things in common. Like Ethan, Keira was also something of an outsider in the close-knit Dewford community. She had moved in four years ago, but the students in school always considered her a little odd. However, despite the insinuations of something more than friendship by certain people- not least of all by Kate-, Ethan's feelings for Keira were strictly platonic. Being somewhat introverted, he was just glad that he had found a good friend. Keira, apparently, also felt the same way.

Being neighbours, they also walked home together.

"……and the duskull actually followed me around for a while or so, until my mother bought me this cleanse tag from hex lady at the market," Keira said, showing Ethan an old piece of cloth with a symbol on it.

Ethan was still sceptical. "How do you know that the duskull hadn't just gotten tired of you and left to haunt someone else?"

"I'm telling you, the duskull left immediately after I got-" Keira was interrupted by Ethan, who moved to the side of the road, hiding partially behind a road sign. "Ethan, what-" Keira stopped speaking when Ethan indicated her to be quiet, and motioned in the direction of his house.

A uniformed man, dressed in full-body black and wearing a black beret-like cap stood intimidatingly over Ethan's mother. She was knelt over, tending to Kate, who was lying on the ground unconscious. There was a large orange 'R' emblazoned on the back of his uniform. The man spoke. "You will tell me where he is, lady."

"I told you, he is not here," Ethan's mother said defiantly.

A poochyena appeared from a pokeball. "Last chance, woman." To emphasise the point, the canine pokemon snarled menacingly. Zubat nibbled Ethan's neck softly. He knew what Zubat was suggesting. Since that humiliating loss to that injured boy in the forest a few months ago, Ethan had been training Zubat extensively. This time, he was confident that he would not lose, especially not when his family's safety was at stake.

Ethan moved to try to take on the uniformed goon from behind, but Keira held him back. "Don't. I think your mom has the situation under control," she whispered, indicating at the pokeball his mother was taking out.

"Bellosom, I choose you!" A bellosom appeared in front of Ethan's mother and Kate, shielding them from the poochyena and its master. The poochyena barked at the plant pokemon that so suddenly appeared in front of it.

"Poochyena, bite its cutesy petals off!" the goon said contemptuously.

"Bellosom, Razor Leaf!" Leaves scattered around the gravel path levitated into the air and became rigid, their edges sharpened. The leaves launched themselves at the charging poochyena. The poochyena tried to dodge the deadly projectiles. Many of the leaves missed and simply careened off harmlessly, but enough of the barrage hit the small canine pokemon, causing welts and bloody lines to open up on poochyena's body. The poochyena's charge faltered, and it collapsed, unconscious with all the pain.

The goon winced at his pokemon's easy defeat. "Admin Domino gave me that pokemon…… I should use it now," he muttered. "Go, Swalot!" An odd-looking pokemon that Ethan had never seen before appeared. It looked somewhat like a benign purple bag. "Swalot, Sludge!"

Suddenly looking not so benign, the swalot appeared to take a deep breath, and spat out a glob of poisonous-looking goo, aimed at Bellosom. "Bellosom, Magical Leaf!" As if it understood what Ethan's mother intended, the bellosom nodded, and leaves, this time looking slightly different from ordinary leaves, flew out of its petal skirt. The leaves glowed in a rainbow of colours, appearing almost magical in quality. The leaves flew straight for the sludge, cleanly slicing it into half. The two globs of sludge landed a few feet left and right of the diminutive flower pokemon, fizzling.

The magical leaves, in the meantime, had not finished their journey. After splitting through the sludge, it went straight for the hapless swalot, every single one of the leaves cutting into its sticky skin. Despite that, the swalot seemed unaffected. "Ha! I have a type advantage, you bitch!" the goon taunted. "Swalot, Body Slam!"

The swalot, showing extraordinary agility for a shapeless purple bag, leapt- _bounced_ into the air, and landed right on the bellosom, who did not avoid it fast enough. It squealed in discomfort, and tried to get away, to no avail. "Too bad my pokemon has a sticky hold. The battle was over the moment Swalot got to your stupid plant. Now, about Bailey…"

Ethan's mother then did an altogether unfamiliar thing. She smirked. "Sticky hold, eh? Bellosom, Giga Drain." The goon realised too late was going to happen, and tried to recall his pokemon. The swalot, apparently also realising the danger, tried to detach itself from bellosom. But it was too late. It begun to shrink, its limbs atrophying. The life force passing through from the swalot to Bellosom was almost visible, healing the acid blisters as it coursed through Bellosom. In no time, the swalot was a wrinkled, floppy bag. The goon recalled it as soon as Bellosom let go of it.

"Stay away from my family, Rocket," Ethan's mother said, dropping down to look at Kate.

"You won't get away with this!" the goon spat.

She scoffed. "They always say that. Now go away!" Bellosom's petal skirt puffed up intimidatingly. The goon, beaten, ran away into the forest.

Ethan immediately ran out from his hiding place. "Mom!" he said, "what did he do to Kate?"

"He punched Kate in the face," Ethan's mother said, stroking Kate's bruised face, her voice dripping with worry. "He must have punched really hard." Ethan glanced at his mother. Gone was the confident trainer he saw just now. Now she was just Mom. "Let's get her inside," Ethan said. Together they carried Kate gently into the living room.

"My mother can help, Mrs. Bailey. She's a doctor," Keira said from the sidelines.

"No!" Ethan's mother almost shouted. "I mean, there's really no need, Keira, thank you for your offer," she said in a more conciliatory tone.

"At least let me help Kate, Mrs. Bailey. I have some experience," Keira said, a little uncertainly now. Ethan's mother glanced nervously at Keira, then at the unconscious Kate. Her maternal instincts seemed to take over. "Yes, yes, why not…… thank you dear."

Keira found a first-aid kit in the house, and deftly disinfected and dressed Kate's bruise. Kate regained consciousness in a few minutes. She sat up, dazed. "Hey, Keira." Kate turned her head to Ethan and his mother. "What exactly happened back there? This guy was asking about Dad, and I said I didn't know and he got testy and then _I_ got testy too and then… he hit me."

Ethan's mother's back was turned towards them, busy adjusting a clock on the mantelpiece, even though the clock was just fine before that. She didn't speak for a moment. "It would be nice if none of you mentioned this little incident to anyone. You understand?"

Keira caught Ethan's eye and gestured _what the hell is going on?_ Ethan shrugged helplessly, mystified. He was as clueless as Keira was.

Ethan's mother repeated again, "You guys understand?" Her voice was quivering now.

"But what about my bandage? What do I tell my friends?" Kate said. Unlike Ethan, Kate had bonded with her classmates very well indeed.

"Tell them you fell down the stairs or…… or something!" Ethan's mother snapped.

Kate rolled her eyes, but stopped in mid-roll when Ethan's mother turned her face back to them. "Thanks for patching Kate up, Keira. I appreciate your help, I really do," she said, every bit the housewife and mother again. "Come by for dinner sometime. I'm sure Ethan and Kate would love that."

"Mainly Ethan," Kate muttered slyly, earning a discreet kick in the shins from Ethan.

Ignoring Kate's comment, Keira said, "It's no trouble, Mrs. Bailey." She forced what she no doubt thought was a reassuring smile. "I won't say anything, I promise."

"I'll, uh, escort Keira out," Ethan said, jumping on the opportunity to leave the room.

Once in the garden, Keira snorted. "Escort? Since when do I need an escort?" Waving away Ethan's explanation, she laughed. "Yeah, I know. What was that all about back in there?"

"I have no idea. Truth be told, I suspect it has something to do with our move from Kanto. In fact, I suspect it has _everything_ to do with it," Ethan said.

* * *

**A/N: Well, here's Chapter Three. I would have posted ot along with the first two, but I have to say, the story submission system is cranky as hell. Anyways, constructive criticisms are most welcome. Again, thanks to Farla for beta-reading this story.**


	4. Kidnap

Ethan wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve as he entered the shade of the garden. He had been at a nearby clearing in the forest, tossing pebbles and rocks of various sizes into the air for Zubat to practise its new move. Ethan had gotten a TM from the merchant at the market with a large portion of his monthly allowance. He would have trained longer, but he had some school homework to do. As he got in the house, he saw his mother and Kate arguing in the kitchen.

"...but Mom, it's so close, and it's deserted," Kate said, her tone dangerously close to a whine.

"_No._ You never know who or what might be lurking in that cave! I heard that it's pitch black," Ethan's mother said firmly.

"Only part of the cave is pitch black, Mom. Anyway, they say that Brawly trains there. It can't be all that dangerous," Kate retorted.

"Brawly isn't a gym leader for no reason. Between his pokemon and himself, they are quite capable of fending off any sort of danger-" At this point Kate opened her mouth to speak, but her mother raised a finger, silencing her. "-unlike you, young lady."

"It can't be all that dangerous," Kate repeated petulantly.

"It _is_," Ethan's mother insisted. "All sorts of things might happen to you. Off the top of my head, you could easily get lost in the cave, get attacked by dangerous pokemon, get kidnapped by bad people…" she said, ticking grim predicaments off her fingers. "Not to mention that if you get a sudden heart attack, there won't be anyone to help you."

Kate exhaled. "I'm fourteen, Mom, not forty. Besides, I told you, I'm going with my friends," she said with exaggerated patience.

"_Exactly._ You're fourteen, Kate. Don't try to grow up too fast." Even though his mother's expression remained calm, Ethan could hear a strain creeping into her voice, a sure sign that her patience was expiring.

"You would have done it," Kate murmured darkly.

"What?"

"You would have done it when you were young, Mom," Kate clarified waspishly. "I saw some of your old photos, Mom. You picnicked at Diglett's Cave. _And you were holding pokeballs in some of them_," she emphasised the last accusation ominously.

"Now, those were just-"

"Just what, Mom? Your identical twin?" Kate sneered.

"Go to your room, Kate," her mother said quietly.

Kate wasn't about to back down. "This is about Dad, isn't it? What'd he do-"

"Katherine Bailey!" Ethan's mother exploded, "Go to your room!"

Ethan flinched. He had never seen his mother flare up like that, not even during the stressful periods when they had to move. Ethan's mother had always been even-tempered, dealing with Kate's sometimes impertinent behaviour firmly but mostly serenely.

Kate also looked shocked, but quickly became defiant again, glaring at her mother. She glared straight back with unusual sternness. After a few moments, Kate gave in. She turned out of the kitchen and stomped up the stairs, not showing any sign of having noticed Ethan.

Ethan's mother took a deep breath, and appeared to compose herself. It was then that she noticed Ethan standing by the doorway. "Ah, Ethan! I didn't know you were there. How did your training go?" she said, as if nothing had happened.

Ethan muttered a non-committal reply, sitting down on a couch below the lazily rotating ceiling fan, allowing his sweat to dry off. "Mom," Ethan started.

Ethan's mother stiffened, and stopped fussing over the cutlery on a rack. "Yes, dear?"

"Just now, you and Kate-"

Ethan's mother sighed resignedly. "I know, Ethan… I know. I'm just very worried that anything should happen to her."

_Worried about what, Mom?_ Ethan wanted to ask, but didn't. He suspected that the answer wouldn't be forthcoming even if he asked. "You let me train with Zubat," Ethan pointed out.

"Kate is -different, Ethan," Ethan's mother said, chewing on her lower lip, "you know how she is. She likes to run about and poke around, and…… well…" she tapered off.

Ethan kneaded his temple. Despite the gentle caress of the fan's draught, he was feeling very sticky. "I think I'll just go up and have a shower, Mom," he said, standing up. He wondered if his mother's uncharacteristic outburst had anything to do with the oddly-attired goon Ethan's mother called 'Rocket'. _It probably has everything to do with that,_ Ethan mused, nearly stepping on the sleeping form of Token, blissfully unaware of what had transpired in the kitchen.

* * *

"Go away, River," Keira said, laughing. The ralts had been prying into Ethan's thoughts and feelings, searching. Ethan, still unused to psychic pokemon, had been unnerved by the odd sensation. The ralts did a little shrug, and hopped off the arm of the couch and out of the room. 

Ethan was at Keira's house after dinner for a school project for Pokemon Studies, both Ethan's and Keira's favourite subject. Ethan glanced at the clock on the living room wall. "It's late. I have to get back," he said. He gathered his books and headed for the door.

"…… and we still have that essay on the ecology of Kanto to do. Should be a breeze for you, you're from Kanto," Keira finished as they reached the door. Zubat, hanging upside-down from the doorframe, swooped down to Ethan's shoulder.

_Peril awaits your family_, a disembodied voice said. Ethan started. River stood beside the door, and Ethan got the feeling that she was looking at him, even though ralts don't have eyes. His pause wasn't lost on Keira. "What, River told you your family is in danger or something, didn't she?" She picked up the tiny psychic pokemon. "Don't mind River, she just likes doing that to people."

Ethan could only nod. At the back of his mind, he felt a lingering unease as he stepped out into the dark night. Being in the outskirts of Dewford Town, the houses weren't closely-packed like nearer the town centre. A gravel path of about a hundred metres separated Ethan's and Keira's houses. Ethan didn't particularly mind. The night air was cool, and as it was a cloudless night, he could even see a few stars twinkling.

As he approached his house he saw a group of a dozen or so men and women huddled outside the garden. They were all wearing full-body black, with a familiar orange 'R' on their backs. _Shit!_ Ethan instinctively got off the gravel path, crouching to hide in the tall grass. Another four uniformed goons appeared out of the house marching Ethan's father out tightly. His face was swollen and bloody, as if he had been beaten.

Ethan saw another man stride out of the house. He was attired in the same style, but his jacket was white instead of black, making him stand out against the other goons. He was obviously a superior officer of some sort. Ethan couldn't help but feel that he had seen that man somewhere. He took off his white-striped beret to reveal an almost bald pate. In a flash, Ethan remembered who he was: Skipler. He was Ethan's father's childhood friend, who helped them move to Dewford.

Ethan was shaken out of his reverie by Skipler ordering his goons to half-march, half-drag Ethan's father away. _What am I doing? I should do something!_ He stood up, preparing himself and Zubat to confront Skipler. One of the goons heard the rustle of the grass and turned in his direction, spotting him. "Hey, you!"

Zubat flew right at the goon, who ducked just in time. As he began to draw a pokeball from his pocket, Skipler stopped him. "Keep with the plan. Leave this whelp to me."

The goon hesitated a little, scowling at being denied battle, but backed down, following his fellow teammates. "Roger, Admin."

Skipler dodged another one of Zubat's flybys. He now drew a great ball of his own from his jacket. "Mach, I choose you." A large crobat, twice the size of Zubat, materialised from the great ball.

"Now, listen to me, boy," Skipler began.

"You betrayed my father! He was your friend!"

"It's not quite as simple as that, boy, now _back down_," he said authoritatively.

Ignoring Skipler's admonishments altogether, Ethan said, "Zubat, Aerial Ace!" Zubat obeyed, speeding up to a blur towards the crobat.

"Fine. Mach, Faint Attack." Skipler's crobat suddenly disappeared from view, causing Zubat to miss. It appeared right on top of Zubat, tackling him with full force. Zubat lost height, but managed to avoid crashing and stay airborne. Zubat started glowing softly, like the moon, and began to grow bigger, evolving. When the evolution finished, Ethan's zubat had become a golbat.

Ethan, despite the circumstances, smiled with pride. All those months of hard work finally paid off. "Golbat, Confuse Ray!" Golbat opened its now-large mouth, an odd ray starting to form between them.

The crobat, however, was too fast. "Mach, Air Cutter." The crobat flapped its wings, generating mach-speed winds in a narrow area. Golbat wasn't quick enough in evading the razor-sharp winds, and was knocked out of the air. His unconscious form landed with a thud a few metres behind Skipler.

"Zubat!" Ethan started in the direction of the inanimate golbat, but Skipler strode briskly up to him, unclipping a baton on the way. Instinctively, Ethan raised his arms to block, but the expected blow did not come. Instead, Skipler gave him a swift shove with his baton hand, causing Ethan to lose his balance and fall on the ground. Skipler towered over him. When Ethan tried to rise again, Skipler crouched down quickly, slamming Ethan's face into the dirt again.

_He's pretending to hit me…… what the hell?_ Skipler put a hand on Ethan's throat as if to check his pulse, and leaned closer to his ear. "Listen up, boy. Go to Mt. Chimney. All the answers will be found there," he hissed urgently.

As soon as he finished saying that, Skipler rose up and aimed a kick at Ethan's ribs. It knocked the wind out of Ethan when it connected, exquisite pain shooting through his body. Casting a final contemptuous glance at Ethan's writhing body, Skipler put on his white-striped beret and strode away.

* * *

**A/N: And here's Chapter Four. R&R please. Again, thanks to Farla for patiently beta-reading my chapters. The chapter would have been much choppier without her advice.**


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